Henby h



I H. GOVE.

FILLING END EXTRACIING IYIECHANISWI FOR IOOII'IS,

APPLICATION FILED FEB,'ZO,I:-1IFI Iai'en IIHI. May 520, I9 I II.

Nd l

s rarns r. w nter HENRY GGVE, 01 BIDDEFORD, MAINE, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 HOWARD R- 'WHITEHEAD, 0F SACO, MAINE.

FlL'LLINGr-END-EXTBACTING MEGIt-IANIEfiViI FOR LO0M$.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2%, 191 9? To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY H. Govn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Blddeford, in the county of York and Stateof Maine, have invented certain Improvements in Filling-End-Extracting Mechanism for Looms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to looms and particularly to looms of the weft'replenishing or feeler type.

In. looms of this type a mechanism is provided which acts automatically to eject from the shuttle a bobbin on which the filling has become practically spent and to replace this bobbin with. a full bobbin, this mechanism including a feeler apparatus which acts automatically when the filling on the bobbin in the shuttle is nearly exhausted to throw the bobbin-changing apparatus into operation. The weft or filling thread of the spent bobbin, of course, runs through the eye of the shuttle to the goods and a cutting mechanism therefor is provided in these machines to sever this filling thread between the goods and the shuttle. out of the shuttle it is sup-posed to pull the end portion of this filling thread out of the eye of the shuttle and thus remove it from the range of operation of the Weaving instrumcntalities. This action does not always take place, however, and frequently the end portion of the thread on the spent bobbin is caught in the eye or some other part of the shuttle and is carried into the shed when the shuttle makes its next pick. 'lhis filling); end, of course, is long enough to ,e'o only part way across the shed, and when it is beaten up with the succeeding pick it produces a flaw in the goods. In very cheap goods it is not objectionable to allow the machine to operate in this manner and then to remove these short filling; ends by hand at'ter the goods have been woven; but this method cannot be followed in weaving fine goods and it is also highly objectionable in cheaper goods made of coarse thread or yarn, such as (limiting and canvases, since the pulling oi the short weft threads leaves spores or flaws which arovery noticeable in coarse goods and are suiliciently noticeable in line goods to impair their salability. It

As the spent bobbin falls.

is necessary, therefore, When a flaw of this i kind occurs in weaving goods of the latter kinds, for the weaver to stop the machine and take out all the picks back to the flaw and then start the machine into operation again. Wh le attempts have been made heretofore to overcome this difliculty by automatic means, these attempts have not, so far as I am aware, proved successful. the general object, therefore, of the present invention to devise means for solving" the lilliculty presented by these conditions.

lo this end the invention comprises, 111 its i'n'cfcrred form, a power driven mechanism which o 'ioratcs to engage the thread of the spout or ejected bobbin at a point on the opposite side of the shuttle eye from the goods and to withdraw from the shuttle the end portion oi. the thread which trails behind the bobbin.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description of the e1nbodimont thereof now preferred by me, refbronco being made to the accompanying drawings, in. which,

. Figure 1 is a front elevation showing part ot' a loom equipped with mechanism constructed in accordance with this invention;

his. 2 is an end elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view, partly in elevation, of the rotary thread pulling or extractingdevice shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 4 is an end view of the device shown in Fig. i

The drawings show the right hand end portion of a Northrop loom of a construction well known by those skilled in this art. This machine com n'iscsa lay 2 equipped with a shuttle-box 4E and includes a hopper (3 carrying a series of full bobbins 8. The loom also is provided with mechanism which operates automatically, when the filling on tho bobbin in the shuttle becomes nearly exhausted, to force one of the bobbins 8 into the shuttle and thus eject the eniipty bobbin from the shuttle. 'l his bobbin falls through an opening at one side of the lay, on to an apron '10, and drops into a receptacle 12. weft-severing}: or parting mechanism is provided between the salvage edge of the cloth and the shutilo to cut the filling thread oi the ejected imllblll. inasmuch as Weit-replenishing looms of this type are Well known It is and their construction and operation is well understood by those skilled in this art, it is deemed unnecessary to show or describe here the bobbin-changing and weft-cutting mech anisms. In Figs. 1 and 2 a spent bobbin B is shown just after it has been ejected from the shuttle and has fallen into the receptacle 12. It is assumed in these figures that the thread (T) is caught in the eye of the shuttle or in some other part of the weaving instrumentalitics, as frequently happens, and thus has not been Withdrawn from the shuttle by the falling motion of the ejected bobbin. Consequently, the end portion of this thread, unless it is removed in some manner, will be carried into the shed and will result in male ing a flaw in the goods in the manner above described.

According to this invention a thread 6X" tracting or pulling device, indicated in general' at 14, is positioned below and at one sid of the Sl'lllttlB-bOX L. This device comprises a tapered barrel 16, preferably made of sheet metal, and a drum 18 secured rigidly to the base of the barrel 16. This drum preferably is open at the end opposite the barrel 16 and is provided with a series of fingers 26 which project from the peripheral edge of the drum over the barrel 16 and extend diagonally forward in the direction of rotation of the device. This device may be made in any convenient manner but, as shown, the drum 18 is stamped from a single piece of metal into the form illustrated and it s end is provided near its central portion with a short flange which. is secured, as by soldering or riveting, to the larger end of the barrel 16, so that the parts 16 and 18 constitute, in effect, a unitary structure. The fingers 20 maybe punched out of the metal end of the drum and bent into their operative positions. Preferably the smaller end of the barrel 16 is closed by a cap 22 carrying a pin which enters a bayonet slot 21 in the barrel so that the cap may readily be secured to or removed from the end of the barrel. Preferably the end of the drum opposite the barrel is flared or is provided with a flange-so that it will tend to prevent the end. portion of a filling thread which fallsover the open end of the drum from catching in the mechanism that drives the drum.

The thread extractor 14 is mounted on. a tapered hub 26 which rotates freely on a short stub shaft 28 secured in the frame 30 of the loom. A grooved pulley 32 is bolted to the larger end of the hub 26 and this end of the hub is recessed to receive a collar 3% fast on the shaft 28 which serves to maintain the hub and pulley against movement longitudinally of the shaft 28, The hub and extractor may conveniently be driven by a belt 36 running over a pulley 38 fast on. the cam shaft 40 of the loom.

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rects the bobbin (B) into position to cause I the trailing end of the filling thread to come in cotlperative relationship to the extractor. The fact that the extractor is located below the shuttle-box and its position with reference to the direction of movement of the shuttle, as well as its direction of rotation, tends to bring the trailing end of the filling thread into engagement with thefin gers 20 of the extractor, These fingcrs,,as above stated, are inclined forward in the direction of their rotating movement so that V-shaped notches are formed between the forward edges of the fingers and the adja cent peripheral edge of the drum. Consequently, the filling thread will be caught in these V-shaped notches. The force with which the fingers strike the thread and the direction of their movement will, in many cases, exert sufficient force on the thread to draw it out of the shuttle. If, however, the initial contact 01" the fingers with the thread is not sui'licient to withdraw the thread from the range of operation of the shuttle the continued rotation of the extracting device maintains the engagement of one, at least, of the fingers 20 with the thread and thus, carries the thread around the drum l6 that it is wound up on the barrel. This winding action continues until the thread is eventually withdrawn from the shuttle. Suiiicient force is exerted on the thread by the act of winding it around the drum to enable the extractor to withdraw, a thread from the range of operations of the weaving instrumentalities even if the thread has been carried into the shed. The winding of the thread on the barrel tends also to unwind. the filling from the spent bobbin (B) so that, in time, the barrel 16 becomes loaded with an accumulation of Weft ends which have been wound up on it in the manner above described. This accumulation of threads may be\ removed either y removing the ca 22 in the manner ab ve described and sliding the entire collection of threads oil the hub 16, the tapered shape of the barrel facilitating this operation, or the entire extracting device 14 may be removed from the hub 26 and an empty one placed on the hub. Since the rotary extractor is maintained on the hub simply by'the friction between it and the hub, it may easily be withdrawn and replaced by a new one.

It is advantageous to allow the thread extractor to unwind from the ejected bobbins the filling thread Which they still carry since this'operation dispenses with the unwindin of this filling thread by hand. Occasionally the thread from one or more bobbins while being unwound in this manner becomes tangled or snarled with other filling threads in the receptacle. l2 and in order to prevent this tangle from being wound up on the barrel, a thread cutting or parting device is positioned below the extractor. This cutting device, inthe form shown, consists of a. plate 4:? secured to the upper edge of the receptacle 12 and having an inclined edge it .in which a notch 46 from an ejected bobbin,.it is dragged along the inclined edge &4 and into the notch *6. The thread will notch if it is free from other threads, but if it becomes tangled or snarled with the other filling threads in the receptacle, the

' entire bunch of tangled thread will bedrawn upwardly toward the barrel and caught in the notch 46-. The continued rotation of the extractor will break the thread at the notch by ejected bobbins and thus avoids the presence of in'iperfections in the goods due to the cause hereinbefore described. At the same time the apparatus provided requires no at tention on the part of'the workman other than to remove from the extractor the accumulation of weft'ends either by taking thisaccumulation off the extractor or by removing the extractor itself and replacing it with a new one.

"While I have herein shown and described the embodiment of the invention now preferred by me, it is obvious that the invention is susceptible of embodiment in many other forms. (littering in details from that herein described, while still retaining its es sential features and characteristics.

Vi'hat is claimed as new, is

1. it filling tln'ead-extracting mechanism for looms. comprising a rotatable drum, thread-engaging fingers mounted thereon. and a thread-supporting barrel at one end of said drum.

2. A filling threadrxtracting mechanism for looms. comprising a rotatable drum. a series of thread-engaging fingers mounted 't'ast onsaid drum. and a tapered thread-supporting barrel Fast on one end of said drum.

A filling thread-extracting mechanism isformed. As a filling thread caught on the f'mgers 20 unwinds run freely through this for looms, comprising a rotatable drum, a series of threzul-cngaging fingers mounted thereon, a thread-engaging barrel fast on. one end of said drum, and means on.which said drum and barrel are mounted for quick removal, said-means being operative to drive said drum and barrel.

4-. A filling tlnead-extracting mechanism for looms, comprising a tapered barrel, a drum at the larger end of said barrel, and a series of thread-engaging fingers mounted fast on said drum at one peripheral edge thereof. said fingers projecting over the larger end of said barrel.

5. A filling thread-extracting mechanism for .lOOllllS, con'lprising a tapered barrel, a drum at "the larger end of said barrel, :1. series or threat'hengaging fingers mounted fast on said-drum at one peripheral edge thereof, and means for rotating said drum and barrel. said fingers projecting over the larger end of said barrel, and extending diagonally forward with reference to the direction of rotation of the drum.

, 6. A filling thread-extracting mechanism for looms, com-prisinga rotatable drum, a plurality of thread-engaging fingers mounted on said. drum for rotation therewith, a thread-engaging barrel fast on one end of said drum, and a cap removably secured to the end of said barrel opposite the drum and extending barrel.

7. A filling thread-extracting mechanism for looms, comprising a rotatable hub, means for driving said hub, and a member frictionally held on said hub and provided with a series of thread-engaging fingers. 8. A filling thread extracting mechanism for looms comprising a barrel, a drum at one end of said barrel, and a series of thread engaging fingers fast on said drum at one peripheral edge thereof. said fingers project ing over one end of said barrel.

9. A filling thread extracting mechanism for looms comprising a rotatable member, means for driving said member, and a debeyond the periphery of the -vice removably mounted on said member and provided ing fingers.

10. An automatic weft-replenishing loom, having. in combination, a lay, a shuttle box associated therewith, mechanism for ejecting a spent bobbin from a shuttle while it is in said shuttle box. and a rotary device having thread engaging fingers constructed and positioned to engage the filling thread of the ejected bobbin and to withdraw said thread from the shuttle.

Tn testimony whereof I have signed my with a series of thread engagname to this specification.

HENRY H. GOVE. 

